2014 Draft

News Flash: Big Receivers Score Touchdowns Inside The Red Zone

I have posted several times this offseason about the Pittsburgh Steelers need to find a receiver that can score inside the red zone and especially since the team has now lost wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery and Emmanuel Sanders during the free agent signing period.

I don’t really care if that receiver is a wide out or tight end, or is only four foot tall, as long as that player can score inside the red zone. However, recent history shows us that the big players score the red zone touchdowns in the NFL.

Over the course of the last three seasons, there have been 48 players that have caught nine or more red zone touchdowns. Of those 48 players, 41 are 6 foot tall or better and 32 of them are 6 foot, 2 inches or taller.

Interesting enough, 21 of those players were tight ends.

So how did the big college receivers do in college in 2013 inside the red zone? In the second table below, you will see that there were 29 players that caught six or more red zone touchdowns last season. Of those 29 players, 20 of them are supposedly over six foot tall. Six of those players are tight ends.

None of this should be considered breaking news, but it’s one more thing to think about with the draft now less than one month away.

2010-2013 NFL Red Zone Touchdown Catches

PLAYER TARG REC REC % TD HGT WGT
Jimmy Graham 71 41 57.70% 27 6062 260
Eric Decker 60 36 60.00% 24 6031 217
Rob Gronkowski 51 33 64.70% 23 6062 258
Tony Gonzalez 63 41 65.10% 22 6041 244
Wes Welker 65 53 81.50% 21 5086 195
Brandon Marshall 66 31 47.00% 21 6044 229
Calvin Johnson 68 30 44.10% 19 6050 239
Dez Bryant 50 30 60.00% 19 6020 224
Marques Colston 52 35 67.30% 17 6045 224
Jordy Nelson 50 30 60.00% 17 6025 217
A.J. Green 63 28 44.40% 16 6035 211
James Jones 39 26 66.70% 16 6006 207
Vernon Davis 35 22 62.90% 16 6032 254
Demaryius Thomas 47 27 57.40% 15 6032 224
Antonio Gates 39 24 61.50% 15 6040 260
Vincent Jackson 51 25 49.00% 14 6046 241
Kyle Rudolph 28 22 78.60% 13 6061 259
Jermichael Finley 33 20 60.60% 13 6044 243
Darren Sproles 50 37 74.00% 12 5061 187
Larry Fitzgerald 62 34 54.80% 12 6027 225
Roddy White 62 27 43.50% 12 6012 207
Steve Johnson 48 21 43.80% 12 6017 210
Greg Olsen 43 21 48.80% 12 6057 257
Lance Moore 37 23 62.20% 12 5092 182
Jerricho Cotchery 33 17 51.50% 12 6004 212
Jason Witten 46 25 54.30% 12 6056 264
Jermaine Gresham 31 21 67.70% 12 6052 261
Torrey Smith 37 16 43.20% 11 6007 204
Greg Jennings 39 25 64.10% 11 5111 197
Scott Chandler 29 16 55.20% 11 6070 270
Anthony Fasano 33 20 60.60% 11 6041 259
Mike Williams 44 20 45.50% 11 6014 221
Heath Miller 39 23 59.00% 10 6050 256
Brandon Pettigrew 41 17 41.50% 10 6053 263
Julio Jones 38 20 52.60% 10 6026 220
Golden Tate 33 18 54.50% 10 5102 199
Aaron Hernandez 37 20 54.10% 10 6023 245
Marvin Jones 18 14 77.80% 10 6017 199
Joel Dreessen 25 16 64.00% 10 6042 260
Anquan Boldin 39 17 43.60% 9 6005 216
Brent Celek 40 23 57.50% 9 6037 255
Victor Cruz 41 21 51.20% 9 5115 206
Reggie Wayne 41 17 41.50% 9 6000 198
Martellus Bennett 36 17 47.20% 9 6061 259
Dennis Pitta 23 13 56.50% 9 6044 245
Dallas Clark 32 16 50.00% 9 6033 257
Owen Daniels 29 13 44.80% 9 6033 253
Denarius Moore 28 14 50.00% 9 5115 194

2013 College Red Zone Touchdown Catches

POS PLAYER TD HGT WGT
WR Davante Adams 13 6007 212
WR Willie Snead 11 5110 195
WR Quincy Enunwa 10 6020 225
WR Brandin Cooks 10 5096 189
WR Matt Miller 9 6022 222
TE Gator Hoskins 9 6015 253
WR Brandon Wimberly 8 6021 207
TE Austin Seferian-Jenkins 8 6054 262
WR Josh Huff 8 5112 206
WR Josh Harper 8 6004 184
WR Devante Davis 8 6021 210
WR Shane Wynn 7 5064 170
WR Eric Thomas 7 6004 216
WR Tommy Shuler 7 5071 190
WR Deontay Greenberry 7 6021 198
WR Dorial Green-Beckham 7 6052 225
WR Kelvin Benjamin 7 6050 240
WR Jordan Williams 6 6012 216
WR Brandon Swindall 6 6031 198
WR DeVante Parker 6 6021 209
TE Nick O’Leary 6 6026 248
WR Alex Neutz 6 6024 214
WR Malcome Kennedy 6 5115 200
WR TJ Jones 6 5115 188
WR Justin Hardy 6 5111 186
WR Jeremy Gallon 6 5074 185
TE C.J. Fiedorowicz 6 6054 265
TE Ted Bolser 6 6054 257
TE Jace Amaro 6 6053 265
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